Dirt Basement for Storage
Robert
3 years ago
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Kate Hip
3 years agoRelated Discussions
Starting from dirt- literally! A basement bath DIY Adventure pt2
Comments (178)Not really bathroom related, but yet another tale for those who love stories about MrG - we are in the process of finishing off the rest of the useable basement (all of it minus the utility) and MrG has reared his ugly head yet again - remember wayyyyy back at the beginning of this adventure when I talked about the wavy concrete floor - OMG. So the rest of the basement is going to be loads of fun. It's out of level over an inch in quick checks - problem being it's too high in those spots - compared to where we will meet at the doorway (now beautifully tiled) to the laundry room. No, I will not let Mr.Hunzi break out and replace the concrete - we all know how that turned out last time, the end result may have been lovely, but the 10yr wait and the 3yr process is just too much for a second round of that sort of fun. ;-) And the future flooring is lovely, not inexpensive heart pine - unless I have to find an alternative to accommodate the Ghost of MrG. For lottery ticket and enduring and nancy who kept me company through the whole saga of bathroom and dirt before - come over and offer your wisdom at the home decorating forum - which is where I thought might fit best for the Studio Pink Babe Cave Adventure!...See MoreDirt Basement Stabilization
Comments (10)You need a professional engineer who knows (and appreciates) old houses to advise you about digging in partial basements - especially basments with recently unsually wet soil. Call you local historical society or your State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO - every state has one, I believe, and they can start you in the right direction) to get names of people who fit my description. It's quite important to get someone with old house experience and affection. Houses without full foundations (i.e.with footings) are completely dependant on undisturbed soil for stability. Even a ground hog burrow can create problems. Bad things can happen under those circumstances, so get someone with an engineering license in there to help you decide what to do. I would think this is particularly important in brick houses (vs interconnected wooden hulks like my timber-frame structure.) And, yes, you should put down some vapor barrier while you're at it. It is easier to do with the floor open, but it can be done later, even if you have to practically push the material forward with your nose as you slither along in the crawl space. BTW, there are materials that are better for vapor blocking than contractor's poly. I can make some suggestions if you need them. HTH, Molly...See MoreHow do you deal with damp, dirt-floor basements?
Comments (24)Alisande, we have a damp basement, too, and, like you said it's a pain to empty it. We have to empty it about twice a day in the wet season. As you might imagine, we're really tired of doing this! We wish we had a floor drain to have it empty into, but we don't since it's an old house. What we're going to try to do--and maybe you can do this, too--is figure out how to get the dehumidifier drain into the laundry sink. In our case, we need to rig some sort of hose for it and figure out a way to raise the dehumidifier to the proper height. But maybe you don't have a sink in your basement... :( Even so, a dehumidifier is worth having. We got ours at Lowes for about $120 and it has been money very well spent. Our basement smells clean and nice, and the items we store down there don't get damp like they did before we were running the dehumidifier. Of course, a dehumidifier can't solve all moisture problems. It definitely sounds like your gutters/etc were causing the problems. You might want to take a look at some books on basement moisture problems. Right now, I have two books out of the library on this subject that are really helping us figure out how to make some simple fixes without calling in the professionals. Home Water and Moisture Problems: Prevention and Solutions by Gary Branson (this one is so good that I'm planning on buying it for friends and family for Christmas!) 5 Steps to a Dry Basement or Crawl Space by Ronald K. Gay I sure hope some of this info is useful. I know how annoying it is to have a wet basement. Good luck!...See MoreReplacing partial dirt floor basement in 1911 cottage style home.
Comments (3)Note that the slab may or may not be part of the foundation. Given the age of the house, I'm pretty much sure it isn't. It's just a floor someone poured. As Geoffrey says, we can't really guess at prices. Get bids AND REFERENCES. I agree a floor under a 5' ceiling will not really do much for the value of the house, it's really a convenience for you when you're storing stuff in there. Yes you can excavate down, but as Geoffrey says, you need to make sure you're not weakening the existing foundation which on a house of that age could be anything from concrete to brick/block to loose stones/rubble. However, unless you also intend to finish that into habitable space, I agree you'll never recover the costs of doing this in home value....See MorePatricia Colwell Consulting
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